As higher education moves into a new era of hybrid learning, and out of a global pandemic, there has never been a greater need for a holistic approach to mental wellbeing. CEO Andy Gough of digital learning provider for mental wellbeing, Learning Labs, looks at the need for data to mitigate the lasting effects of the pandemic, as well as supporting the new pathway to learning of the future.
Looking ahead with a hybrid of human-digital learning
The future for higher education provision is looking increasingly hybrid. The last two years have provided plenty of practice for this blend of on-site and remote learning approach. However, if this is to become accepted as the new normal moving forward, then the next unprecedented challenge is to also provide engaging educational experiences and maximise wellbeing, all within a hybrid learning format.
The global population’s sentiment has been diverging, with expectations, perceptions and behaviours having all shifted as a result of COVID-19 (McKinsey, 2020).During the pandemic, the consumer world accepted a lower level of service from all industries because that human connection we naturally crave (something we now no longer take for granted) was not possible. Moving out of lockdown restrictions, the higher education sector is tasked with not only delivering the educational goods, but also delivering on customer satisfaction in a format and at a level not tested before. No longer will consumers accept that certain aspects of service are currently unavailable – there is now a greater expectation that service providers will innovate online – because consumers want more choice, support and care in every area of their lives.
In higher education the need for greater accessibility and wellbeing support is more in demand than in any other sector. There has been an increase of 450% of students declaring a mental health issue on their UCAS application over the last decade, and UCAS say there is still more to be done in removing the stigma surrounding such a declaration, as they believe this statistic should be higher (Starting the Conversation: UCAS report on student mental health, June 2021).
Furthermore, the lesser talked about, but still equally important wellbeing support, is for staff in higher education. Staff who, under increased pressure to deliver outstanding educational provision, also need to be considered in an inclusive mental wellness programme themselves. This can all add up to being a daunting task for higher education providers to achieve successfully.
How can data play a part?
Mental wellbeing has become too big of an issue in higher education to manage without being able to look at data. There is an abundance of services, apps and resources, both free and paid-for, that higher education providers can use to support students and staff in mental wellbeing. But without raw data and understanding relating to markers of mental wellness, there is neither the means of measuring it, nor tailoring guidance that directs individuals to the right resources at the right time. Ultimately, resources are great but without strategy, measurement and evaluation, who’s to say if any of it pointing in the right direction or working at all?
Spotting this need for simple measurement of mental wellness we (Learning Labs) began working on our own mental wellness portal, Learning Labs Plus, to be able to collect and extract this type of data, and most importantly to turn it into information. We teamed up with mental wellbeing research experts at the New Economic Foundation (NEF, who have previously worked with the NHS and Mind), and created a new concept for understanding and managing mental wellness called The Six Domains of Mental Wellness™.
The Six Domains explains there are six different influences in our lives that can impact our overall wellbeing; the impact of this is that an individual can assess their mental wellness status in each of the Six Domains, they can then take digital Action Labs to help them maintain and improve in each of the Six Domains. Breaking down a daunting subject of mental wellness into six simple parts makes it more manageable at an individual level.
Then, at a total institution level, higher education providers can access a dashboard of anonymised data that shows them the current status of mental wellness across their entire population. Progress can be tracked, and evidence can be shared with key stakeholders (think: reports for parents by term and year, for example).
Looking at the bigger picture (outside of individual learning and single institution needs) there is an opportunity to uncover unknown data trends in student mental health across the UK. By understanding mental health in relation to demographics or geography, we could create benchmarks for what successful mental wellbeing support in higher education should really look like.
Evolving into a new hybrid learning landscape
For a long time we have yearned a return to life as we knew it pre-COVID-19. However, as the new world dawns, we also must realise that the world is not going backwards. A recent consumer research report showed exactly that; people have adapted to a new, digital-first landscape. In order to be successful, organisations need to prepare for the future instead of trying to recreate the past (Qualtrics XM Institute, May 2021).
Back in June 2020, Universities Minister Michelle Donelan delivered a speech about the impact of COVID-19 on the sector and mental health support for students, stating: “When the pandemic struck, my first letter to each institution specifically reminded them of their responsibility of care to students and especially in relation to student mental health. I made it clear that I expected support to be transitioned online, prioritised and bolstered where possible.”
Online support is the obvious solution, but it is not the single solution and ensuring you have access to real-time data is only when it becomes a worthwhile investment. With access to more digital tools, the possibility of personalising support is even greater. Granted, there will be less face-to-face support, but that’s where digital solutions can help maintain that personal connection between professional and student, meeting the new post-pandemic world expectation, even when students are learning remotely, off-site. Just as learning is taking a hybrid approach, the holistic solution to mental wellbeing should also be based on a hybrid framework of human, digital and other resources – led by the data.
I’ll leave you with something my colleague Rosie Maguire, associate at the New Economic Foundation recently explained to me about understanding the challenges facing students today: “As we move through the different stages of our lives, we encounter changes and challenges that evidence shows can impact our mental wellbeing. Students starting university often go through these life-change events all at the same time; moving house, navigating independent living, becoming financially (more) independent, starting a new course, making new friends etc. Combine this with doing it all in the face of a global pandemic and the unprecedented challenges that also come along as a result, and it becomes very easy to see how this segment of young people are struggling right now.”
Find out more about how Learning Labs can support your institution’s mental wellbeing here.
